As 2006 approached, members of the team building Ann Arbor's new high school were worried the school wouldn't be ready to open on time and was significantly over budget. They were awaiting direction from then-Superintendent George Fornero on how to proceed.

Team members had approached Fornero about the problems several times but didn't think he had grasped the seriousness of the situation. They decided to send Jack Baker, a district consultant who served as Fornero's chief of staff, to lay out the problems facing the district once more.

Baker took a one-page sheet with him listing the pros and cons of opening the school on time in the fall of 2007 and of delaying the school's opening to at least the spring of 2008.

Fornero's answer? The school would open on time. He refused to consider any other alternatives, Baker reported at a later meeting of the professional team.

"George's response was that he has been directed by the community and the BOE to reduce the overcrowding at Pioneer and Huron," according to professional team meeting minutes. "The schedule will hold for the opening of Fall of 2007."

Baker's conversation with Fornero in late December 2005 was one of several times Fornero clung to the idea of keeping the opening on schedule despite architects and construction managers asking him to at least consider a delay, a News review of district e-mails, memos and meeting minutes shows.

That stubbornness was among the reasons the project fell apart in late 2005 and early 2006, Baker would later write to district administrators in 2006, just before Fornero announced to the public that the new school was up to $8.4 million over budget and a year behind schedule.

By late January 2006, Fornero had changed his mind and was ready to recommend a one-year delay. It's not known what specifically led him to that decision. Fornero has declined News requests for an interview about the high school and other construction projects.

In July 2005, the professional team began talking about possible delays in finishing the school. Those conversations grew over the course of the next several months and included several meetings with Fornero. Despite that, Fornero insisted the school would be finished on time.

On Oct. 18, 2005, architect Richard Mitchell e-mailed his colleagues about a discussion he had with Fornero.

"Regarding completion date, George said he will support the building to open in August, 2005 only."

After John Castellana of the architectural firm TMP Associates e-mailed Fornero about the schedule problems and about concrete and steel bids coming in over budget in early November 2005, Fornero wrote back.

"There are several givens: The building will open in August 2007 - the idea of a mid-year opening or a year's delay is not acceptable. There is no purpose in offering these suggestions. I indicated today that everyone's credibility is on the line - including mine! I went out on a limb to get this bond issue passed. I don't need this issue to destroy me in the process."

Comments like that hurt the process of getting the school built, Baker wrote on Jan. 24, 2006. Fornero's "overriding emphasis" on sticking to the original schedule meant he didn't truly hear the professional team as it increasingly had concerns about the schedule. That led to increased costs to hurry the project along. Fornero relied on "promises" he had made and not what the professional team was saying had to be done, Baker said.